Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tulisa Contostavlos Photoshoot

Tula Paulinea "Tulisa" Contostavlos (born 13 July 1988), often known simply as Tulisa, is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for being a member of the now defunct Camden-based hip hop group N-Dubz, with her cousin Dappy and their friend Fazer formed in 2000 and together releasing three studio albums before announcing their hiatus in 2011. Contostavlos is currently a judge on the The X Factor and mentored the "Groups" category in her first year including Little Mix, the first ever group to win the competition to date. Contostavlos will release her debut solo album in the summer of 2012. On 16 March 2012 during a Twitter row with her cousin and bandmate Dappy Contostavlos announced that N-Dubz had in fact split up and were not taking a break as stated in 2011.

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

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Tulisa Contostavlos

Porn Star Megan Piper

Mike Stone won't be able to attend his high school prom with Megan Piper or any other porn star, according to the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District in Minnesota.

Stone was called to the principal's office at Tartan Senior High School this week and told it was inappropriate to bring an adult film star to a high school dance, the Daily Dot reports.

However, the 18-year-old student escaped disciplinary action and was not in any trouble with the school, Jennifer McNeil, a representative for the school district, told The Huffington Post.

After sending nearly 600 Tweets, Stone had recently received responses from at least two porn stars who said they were willing to attend his prom as long as he provided money for airfare.

In a statement issued to parents and obtained by HuffPost, the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District cited regulations to defend their decision to ban an adult film star from attending the event.

In short, the rules state that the district has the right to deny any person admission to a school-sponsored event if "the visit is not in the best interest of students, employees or the school district," or if it "substantially disrupts the orderly operation of school or school activities," McNeil said.

This will be the second time Piper misses out on attending a high school prom; she moved from Georgia to Kansas during her senior year of high school and couldn't attend her own.

And although the 19-year-old porn star was disappointed about the decision, she acknowledged the school was acting in the best interests of the students.

"I'm not thrilled; I kind of wanted to go, but I understand," Piper said in a telephone interview.

But Piper also said she was looking forward to meeting Stone's parents, receiving a corsage, posing for pictures with his friends and doing "all the normal things kids would be doing for prom."

According to the Daily Dot, Stone's principal did bring the teen's actions to the attention of his parents, who were "embarrassed" by the situation.

Piper said she wasn't surprised by their reaction.

"I don't know what I would think if I were them," she said.

Despite rumors, the Tartan High School prom has not been canceled, McNeil confirmed. The dance will take place May 12 at the Landmark Center in St. Paul.

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Megan Piper

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Megan Piper

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

I find it hard to look back in time and remember that I once was of the opinion that Jennifer Lawrence was wrong for Katniss Everdeen, our heroine in The Hunger Games. If I were going to defend my tomfoolery now I'd say it was just after she'd glammed herself to high heights for Winter's Bone awards and the freshest vision I had of her was the super blond and ultra buxom version of her on the red carpets. This was not the Katniss I was looking for.

But now that I've seen the movie I kind of want to reach back through time and smack my stupid face good and hard. What was I thinking? Lawrence is terrific - she sells Katniss' steeliness and her vulnerability with equal aplomb. She sells everything - it's been awhile since I have read the books and the film reminded what a first-person experience the story is. This is Katniss' story, and I thought Gary Ross did a great job of getting us inside her head all the while not relying on narration at all, which would've been the easy (cluttered) way to get away with it. The camerawork gets a little bit wobbly for its own good at times but I thought as a way of plunking us down there with Katniss it worked more than it didn't.

Generally I thought Ross made a lot of really smart choices in turning Collins' book into a movie. We probably could have used more time with Katniss in District 12 at the start to set up just how despairing their lives are supposed to be, but I understand that it was already an hour before we even got to the Games, so keeping things moving was an issue. Lawrence sold me on the little notes where this echoed - the way she caressed the fabrics in her room in the Capitol managed to express both awe and disgust, or that half-starved look on her face in the flashback where Peeta tosses her the bread, for instance. I think it got across the notes it needed to, mostly.

Josh Hutcherson was great - while he never looked like the Peeta I'd imagined as much as Lawrence came to look like Katniss, he was able to overcome that anyway and make Peeta, for me, even more interesting than he was in the book. I think he complicated Peeta's actions just as much as Lawrence did, so there were times where I was wondering just how much he was playing for the cameras too, which doesn't always get across in the books since they're entirely from Katniss' perspective.

Woody Harrelson gave good Haymitch but I really don't know what they were thinking with that distracting Owen Wilson look they gave him. But the weight that Haymitch feels sending off these kids to their deaths year in year out was there. As for Stanley Tucci... Stanley Tucci's teeth. Teeth! So much teeth.

I wasn't crazy about Lenny Kravtiz as Cinna - he kind of sucked all the air out of the room every time he showed up. It felt as if he showed up with two days to film all his scenes and everything stopped in its tracks for him. But he and Lawrence did have a believable, sweet rapport (I think she might be incapable of not having a natural rapport with anything though.) Elizabeth Banks was a wondrous preening vision of grotesquerie and made every single right choice for Effie - the "reaping" at the start was always going to be nightmarish, but Banks really dug into the awkwardness of it and made it entirely unique and disquieting.

Speaking of disquieting, Donald Sutherland y'all. His viper's smile is going to haunt my nightmares. I long to see him have more to do. That last shot gave me chills. And finally, never do I remember wanting to have Seneca-Crane-from-the-book's babies, but Wes Bentley has gone and changed all of that. Flame-tipped beard crests never found their way into my fetish-pile before, but here we are.



The violence was dealt with especially well, I thought - it felt brutal but it got across what happened without wallowing in gore, which just isn't necessary here. From what I remember Collins never got too detailed with it either. I love Battle Royale too y'all, but this isn't going to be Battle Royale. (An aside: God I'm so tired of the endless exhausting "I'm so smart for knowing other stories that told this sort of story!" catcalls, from The Running Man to The Most Dangerous Game and on and on. We get it. You're so clever, congratulations! But THG actually tells its own story. Move on.)

Anyway the death that really needed to work did, judging from the trembling lip and tear-streaked face I was trying to disguise from the people around me. Indeed I found that moment (I'm purposefully being vague just in case, but y'all know who I mean) with its spill over into revolution incredibly powerful, perhaps the most powerful in the film (it reminded me of the part is Ross' Pleasantville where the "coloreds" start getting attacked, actually) and knowing what it means for what's to come...

Mostly what struck me about having this first book retold to me was how small it seems after everything that comes about in the second and third books - how broad the world gets from here on out, I mean. Here in The Hunger Games it's all relatively straightforward and centered entirely on Katniss' experience... which is probably why the first book is the most successful, story-wise. And the film succeeds on that level - I felt there with this girl on fire. Indeed it succeeded well enough that once the end credits started I thought wouldn't it be wonderful if at the end of the credits the second film just started right then and there! Kind of as a surprise gift to us fans. So I am writing this from inside the theater still. And I will stay here until Catching Fire starts. I will live off of popcorn kernels and the kindness of strangers until then. Wish me luck!

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Jennifer Lawrence Hunger Games

Hunger Games Movie

Well to say the least I hope the Hunger Games movie lives up to the book. Usually though+ the book tends to be better than the movie - but that won't stop me from watching it. One thing that always irritated me is when they adapt a book to a movie or a TV series and get the hair color of the characters wrong. I'm glad the movie is keeping the overall original appearance of the main characters.

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Hunger Games Movie

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Hunger Games Movie